Lumbers Celebrity Row: John O’Groats to Land’s End 2010

Our six-man team of sports stars and Leicestershire businessmen will be attempting an audacious first: rowing from John O’Groats to Land’s End. We’ve got a target of £150,000 to be split equally between four charities, including the RNLI.

The challenge is being put together by me - Paul Bassett - and Dominic Gomersall at the Leicester jeweller Lumbers. Also in the boat will be Tigers hero Matt Poole, PricewaterhouseCoopers senior partner Andy Lyon, Mattioli Woods chief executive Ian Mattioli and one surprise sports star crew member yet to be revealed.

The epic 1,097 voyage will see our crew row in the North Sea, the rivers and canals of England, the Bristol Channel and the Atlantic Ocean. We’ve chosen the RNLI as the bravery shown by the lifeboat crews when they save lives around our coast is an inspiration. We just hope we won’t need to call them from the North Sea.

A host of sporting and showbiz stars will join in the July 2010 event, including heroes from the Leicester Tigers and British Olympians. Steve Cram will cox the boat into Sunderland, early on in the trip, while Martin Johnson and Austin Healey will take part at Foxton Locks in Leicestershire.

We’ve got months of hard training to come, including lessons in rowing our boat – a gig, the original Cornish lifeboat – off the coast of Cornwall in the winter. Any sponsorship you can give now will help us through the many long hours of work ahead.

You can find out more about the challenge at www.celebrityrow.co.uk

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